The Totem Pole first appeared in 1899, after members of the
Chamber of Commerce, vacationing in Alaska, stole it from Tlingit Indians.
The men gave the object to the city as a gift, but the
tribe justly sued for its return and $20,000 in damages.
The courts found the men guilty of theft, but fined them only
$500 and allowed the city to retain ownership. In 1938, the pieces
that remained after vandals set the Totem Pole on fire were sent
back to Alaska, where Tlingit craftsmen graciously carved a reproduction.
The new pole was soon dedicated, with tribal blessings, at a Potlatch
celebration and has since remained unharmed on Pioneer Square.
It now stands as symbol of the complicated relationship between
American Indians and European Americans.
As part of a Civilian Conservation Corps program, the U.S. Forest
Service arranged for a replacement pole to be carved by Tlingit
artisans. The remains of the original pole, which was carved in
about 1790, were sent to Ketchikan, Alaska.
Native artisans created a replica of the totem pole from red cedar,
a more long-lasting wood than the original hemlock. Charles Brown,
a skilled Tlingit craftsman, directed the work. Members of the Kyan
and Kinninook families, whose Raven Clan the pole honors,
participated in the effort.
The original pole had been repainted in Seattle many times in very
non-Tlingit colors. The replica pole was coated in many layers of wood
preservative and then painted in colors very close to the original:
black, red, and bluish green.
An Act of Congress was required to transfer ownership of the new
pole from the Federal government to the City of Seattle.
These are the legends portrayed by the pole:
* Beginning at the top is Raven with the moon in his beak.
Raven symbolizes when people were living in a world of darkness
because Grandfather Raven hid the sun and moon in boxes in his
house. So Hero Raven turned himself into a hemlock needle floating
on water, which was drunk by the grandfather's daughter and thus
was born into the house. During childish play he freed the moon and
sun and himself turned black escaping through the smoke hole.
* Next is the frog story. A woman made derogatory remarks about
frogs, so one changed himself into a handsome man. They were
happily married until she discovered that all of his relatives and her
own children were frogs. Her father finally rescued her and the children
eventually became human.
* Raven and mink were swallowed by a killer whale (orca).
When the whale did not swallow enough fish for their appetites,
they began to eat the whale. Tiring of journeying about, they killed
the whale by eating its heart and they were washed ashore, dirty and
greasy. Mink became a dirty brown color from drying himself in rotten
wood and Raven became sleek and glossy.
The new pole was dedicated on July 25, 1940, but this time with
a steel fence around it.
